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- Nov 11, 2009
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Sometimes known as a PM (personal Message).
But most commonly DM
Often heard in TV conversations, eg, I climbed into their DM’s. Probably won’t be hearing that anymore.
John
- Jun 20, 2005
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How did we manage to get in to someone's Doc Martens? Im confused too.
- Jun 16, 2020
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Prime ministers, scrapped. We should be so lucky.
Going back to #37 messages were referred to as PM’s. not DM’s. IMHO Same thing. Sorry for the confusion, I was actually trying to clarify that.
This bit of AI might help, if the term is new to you.How did we manage to get in to someone's Doc Martens? Im confused too.
- Nov 11, 2009
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Thanks but I was aware of the phrase. I just thought drifting to Doc Martens would lighten things up a bit.
As I understand it, PMs between contributors and Moderators/Administrators will still be permitted.
CParsons
Staff member
- Dec 16, 2019
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What the OSA Requires of Facebook
1. Illegal and Harmful Content Removal
Facebook must swiftly remove illegal content, including:
- Child sexual abuse material (CSAM)
- Terrorism-related content
- Hate speech
- Suicide encouragement or self-harm content
If content is not removed or restricted, Meta faces penalties of up to £18 million or 10% of its global turnover.
Because Facebook is accessed by minors in the UK:
- It must conduct children’s risk assessments
- Proactively suppress harmful content (e.g. suicide, eating disorders, dangerous challenges)
- Provide easy reporting mechanisms for minors
- Ofcom has issued updated Protection of Children Codes to guide this, effective from April 2025.
From 25 July 2025, Facebook is required to implement “highly effective” age verification methods. Options may include biometric checks, ID scans, payment card checks, or age estimation AI to reliably distinguish under‑18 users. Platforms must default minors to child-appropriate experiences and filters.
4. Adults’ Risk Assessments & Additional Duties
As a Category 1 global platform, Meta must also:- Complete adults' risk assessments
- Protect content of democratic or journalistic importance
- Ensure moderation processes do not arbitrarily censor user political expression
These duties are part of the phased roll-out of the OSA.
CParsons
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Like anything legal, there's lots of twists and turns in the legal verbiage. Ultimately, what it comes down to is that in order to keep DM's we would have had to implement age verification checks on the forums for everyone and also monitor DM's to make sure nothing illicit was happening within them.
Given neither of those options are great, and we're not Facebook with Billions of dollars of tech behind us, disabling DM's is the only sure way to remain in compliance with the laws. In this way, you're kind of right, there is a double standard between big tech and smaller institutions.
The OSA is not being well received by many people, and folks are looking to repeal it and if the laws change, we can revert these changes easily. If you're not happy with it and in the UK, be sure to reach out to your Government or sign the repeal.
- Nov 30, 2022
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Yes folks, the lunatics really have now taken over the asylum
I am referring to those who wrote, and then those who approved, this very poorly worded legislation which is having totally irrelevant knock on effects such as banning PM's which, to any reasonably minded person is utterly, and completely wrong.
Act in haste, repent at leisure seems to fit this very situation perfectly.
As I understand it the moderators wouldnt have to continually monitor PM's, but simply remove them if they deemed them as such when their attention is drawn to them by a member.
I am referring to those who wrote, and then those who approved, this very poorly worded legislation which is having totally irrelevant knock on effects such as banning PM's which, to any reasonably minded person is utterly, and completely wrong.
Act in haste, repent at leisure seems to fit this very situation perfectly.
As I understand it the moderators wouldnt have to continually monitor PM's, but simply remove them if they deemed them as such when their attention is drawn to them by a member.
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Not seen anything similar on them (but, being away from the UK at present) my Internet access is sporadic. I am not going to pay P&O £20 per day for access via starlink, so I am reliant on tethering to my phone, and that doesn't work too well when out of sight of land.
- Jun 20, 2005
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I exclude the Owners of this Forum from my comments.
I sometimes think some organisations have a knee jerk reaction, hit the legal panic button, and shut everything down without carefully considering the impact on the business itself.
A lot of these type of reactions can be Insurer driven!
More-so whilst it is of course unquestionable that child protection is top priority, sensibility and careful vetting of all posters is not impossible.
As a mini bus driver for our elderly Populace I have been officially DBS ( Disclosure and Barring Service).
I am sure there are other methods of checking cheaply and easily the credibility of Forum Members.
At the moment none of Forums I use have scrapped PM /DM. But watch this space🙉
- Nov 30, 2022
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This is the ONLY Forum I am registered on that has imposed restrictions on P/DM's Which tends to suggest to me that the new legislation is being incorrectly interpreted here! If it is correct I would expect all the other forums to be following suit, and none of them are!
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- Feb 13, 2024
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I think the marketplace section has been shut down the same as the D/PM system has, for the same (very dubious) reason.
One other forum I use has imposed restrictions on messaging and implemented very strict age verification, too strict for someone like me who has no photo images on the internet - so I'm restricted to the same access as under-18s - it's not a commercial site but a not-for-profit society and won't pay for more obvious age verfication.
I've stopped using the site.
All the other forums I use are US-based and are simply ignoring UK legislation.
CParsons
Staff member
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And this is exactly what we didn't want to do @Mr Plodd. The alternatives are implementing age gating, collecting user ID's or manually reading through P/DM's or using AI to do so and those are not privacy focused options. This was the least user hostile implementation we can put into effect and remain in bounds with UK law. If you think it's just use, here are some other examples for you:
- Telly Talk Soaps (UK TV forum): announced they’d disable private messaging from Aug 9, 2025 after their risk assessment flagged PMs under the Online Safety Act. TV Show Forums
- The Starport (Freelancer game forum): disabled DMs citing OSA liability concerns; the switch was scheduled for July 11, 2025 and later confirmed as done. The Starport
- BATC Forum (British Amateur Television Club): disabled private messaging on Apr 24, 2025, saying it wasn’t practical to moderate PMs for OSA compliance. BATC Forum
- Easy Data Transform (Successful Software) forum: owner disabled user-to-user DMs as a precaution under OSA (post dated July 29, 2025). Successful Software
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